Honey bee

Posted byPhillip Knight ScottPosted inPoemsTags:, , , , ,

Once bitten, my son now fears all wasps,
bees – insects really – flying near our porch
or on his swing set. Twice, shy,
he has refused to go outside with me
today, hiding behind the safety of our walls
playing with toy cars, plastic trucks, and other
synthetic things. I want to keep him safe –

of course I do – but a world awaits him,
one with bee stings and honey,
blood red mosquito bites and
phosphorescent lightning bugs, itchy irritating
pollen clouds and sticky sweet maple syrup
and I must give a name to each of these today
so he can name his own world tomorrow.

We must take our lumps with sugar:
bees produce honey, pollen grows flowers,
and while I’m not sure mosquitoes
do anything pleasant, I spent many orange summer
dusks chasing lightning bugs and collecting lumps
And long to watch the joy in his eyes
as he braves the wilds of our back yard.

Phillip Knight Scott | © 2019

More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Honey/Bee”

Published by Phillip Knight Scott

My name is Phillip. I am a Tar Heel born and bred and watch every Yankees game I can. I'm still searching for my own TARDIS. My first novel, "The Alien in the Backseat," is available now! https://amzn.to/3oVCG77

28 thoughts on “Honey bee”

  2. I love this. I was the child afraid after stepping on a ground wasps nest and finding yellow jackets nesting ion my doll carriage on the porch. Yet somehow my parents got me outside to enjoy the rest. I suspect it was marshmallows at the fire pit after sundown!

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  3. This is lovely, a father’s wish to intoduce his son to the world…….may nature’s wild beauty lure him out the door. I suspect he will feel braver knowing you are by his side.

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  10. Give him the gift of independence. Life comes with stings and bumps. Mosquitos feed bats and other things in the night. I am allergic to bee stings. I keep my epipen handy. Give him honey on his toast!

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  13. I am sure your son will change and embrace the natural world and thoroughlly enjoy it too. Perhaps show him butterflies in the garden and explain how useful inscets are in fertilizing flowers and vegetables so he can see them as friends!

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